The Independent: Israelis warned of illegality of 1967 settlements

The UK The Independent reported that "Israeli ministers were secretly warned just after the Six-Day War in 1967 that any policy of building settlements across occupied Palestinian territories violated international law."

The Independent (www.independent.co.uk) reported a "'top secret' memo by the Foreign Ministry's then legal counsel said that would 'contravene the explicit provisions of the Fourth Geneva Convention.' Growth of Jewish settlements over the next three decades followed." The legal councel was "Theodor Meron, who left Israel a decade later and became a leading international jurist who until the end of last year was president of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia."

The report noted that "Mr Meron said the international community would regard settlement as showing 'intent to annex the West Bank', adding that 'certain Israeli actions are inconsistent with the claim that the West Bank is not occupied territory'. He pointed out that the government specifically decreed military courts had to apply the Geneva Conventions in the West Bank."